Beer bet a cold consolation for Rockies' fans

Three Colorado breweries will carry Boston-brewed Harpoon IPA in their tasting rooms this week to commemorate the Red Sox' World Series win.

Steve Adams

In the wake of their team's loss to the Red Sox in the World Series, Colorado Rockies fans might be spotted crying in their beer. Harpoon IPA, to be specific.

Three Colorado breweries have agreed to carry Harpoon Brewery's flagship brew in their tap rooms after losing a bet with the South Boston brewery.

Harpoon challenged three small craft brewers to carry its beer for a week if the Red Sox won the series. The Colorado breweries - Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing Company and Odells Brewing Company, and Denver-based Flying Dog Brewery - are also required to hang Red Sox pennants in their taprooms.

If the Rockies had won, Harpoon would have displayed Rockies gear and poured brews from the three companies at its plant on Northern Avenue.

``There's a lot of camaraderie and people have fun in our business,'' Harpoon President Dan Kenary said. ``It's all good-natured stuff and we actually would have been excited not for the Red Sox to lose, but to pour their beers for a while in our taproom. I think they feel the same way.''

Three kegs of Harpoon are on their way to Colorado. Normally, the beer is only distributed in 22 states east of the Mississippi River.

The bet follows up on a similar wager Harpoon placed with a Missouri craft brewer during the 2004 World Series.

Founded in 1986, Harpoon shipped more than 100,000 barrels of beer last year from its breweries in South Boston and Windsor, Vt. Harpoon IPA is its best-selling variety, comprising about 60,000 barrels.

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